(Yellow
Cheek Amazon)
Physical
Description
The colors on their head make the Red Lored one of the
most attractive of all Amazons.
The Red Lored Amazon is
primarily green. It has a red lore (forehead), yellow cheeks, and blue crown.
The primary flight feathers are typically deep red and navy. Red Loreds are on the endangered species list (Number II), which means
that imports are definitely illegal. Breeding is encouraged (Naturally) and it
is advised that one should only buy domestic birds.
Hand
reared babies are gentle, and make exceptional pets.
Often bonding closely with their owners they soon make their presence
felt. Like most Amazons they have
good mimicking ability.
Length:
11 inches
Ave.
Lifespan: 60-80 years
Sexing:
One
breeder says mature females have a brown iris, and mature males have a golden
iris.
Origin:
Central America
and
Amazon River
.
Trainability:
Seem
to be good at training. They can talk, though they don't appear to be the best
talkers. They do not tend to
show the aggressive tendencies quite as much as some of the more popular
amazons. Handling and training as a baby is very important to the development
and personality of a parrot. In the amazons, this will minimize behavior
problems and reduce aggression, as they get older. If
you choose an Amazon as a pet, it is very important that you maintain dominance
and control, while teaching him acceptable behavior.
A well-trained Red Lored is very affectionate, loving and an entertaining
pet.
Loudness:
Owners report them to be quiet.
Activities:
Amazons should always be provided with toys, blocks of wood or branches that
they can chew. In order to ensure
safety companion amazons should not be allowed unsupervised freedom in the home
as they often encounter toxins or dangerous items.
Young amazons should be socialized to many people and exposed to a
variety of situations such as new cages, toys, handling by friends and other
family members, wing and nail clips, etc, to avoid fear of novel situations.
They need to have some space for exercise.
Dietary
Needs: Amazons
should be fed pellets, as they are good nutrition.
Zupreem pellets are what we feed. The
diet should be supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables daily to add
variety and psychological enrichment. Feed
approximately ¼ cup of pellets and ¼ cup fresh fruits and veggies daily.
Monitor food intake. Overfeeding
leads to pickiness, selective feeding and wasteful throwing of food.
Because of their tendency to obesity,
Amazons should be fed little to no sunflower or safflower seeds or seeds
should only be given as treats or rewards. Vitamin
supplements are not needed for birds that are eating a pelleted diet.
Grooming: Routine bathing
or showering is vital to maintaining good plumage and skin condition.
Birds can be misted and allowed to dry in a warm room or in the sun, or
gently dried with a blow drier. Care
should be taken not to clip the wing feathers excessively as amazons often fall
and injure themselves. Clip only the
primary flight feathers and only enough so the bird will glide to the floor.
Amazons are heavy bodied and care must be taken not to cut too many feathers.
Excessive wing clipping can result in injuries from falling.
Housing:
Amazons
are very active and should be provided the largest cage that space and budget
allows. Ideally the cage should
provide room for flight. Durable
cage construction is not as critical as it is for macaws and cockatoos.
Locks or escape proof latches may be necessary on cages.
Ideally the bird will have an outdoor cage as well to allow playtime in
the fresh-air and sunlight.
About
Us: Our goal is to raise baby parrots to the highest level
of pet quality and tameness. Therefore
we hand feed and hand raise these babies from an early age to allow us to
produce tame, human re-active baby parrots. We provide a guarantee for our
babies that entitle the buyer to replace a bird or get a full refund should a
problem occur with in 2 weeks. This is conditional in that
the bird must have been diagnosed to have a problem that is either genetically
in nature or is deemed to have been caused by us, by a Certified Avian
Veterinarian or one that is considered by us to have sufficient knowledge of
avian species. Also they can NOT
take blood from the neck. And the
bird must be returned to me ALIVE.
Yellow Napped
Amazon parrots, are beautiful Amazons that are mostly green with large patches
of yellow on the napes of their necks. Some
individuals also have a yellow blaze on their foreheads.
Immature birds have no yellow on their napes; the yellow nape begins to
molt and come in
when they are between 18 months and 2 years old, and continues to get larger as
they get older. Yellow Napped
Amazons tend to be a lighter, brighter green than the other Amazon species.
They range in the wild from the pacific slope of southern
Mexico
through
Guatemala,
Nicaragua
and Costa Rica
.
Yellow Napped
Amazon parrots are approximately 14-15 inches in length and weigh from 480-550
grams.
The yellow
Napped Amazon is a dominant species that is closely related to the Double Yellow
Headed Amazon. These highly
intelligent birds need firm boundaries set in order to keep them as loving
companions. They love to play and
swing around on their toys and play gym, and it is easy to teach them a variety
of games and tricks. They are
exceptional talkers and can be quite the singers.
They start talking especially early in life, and can be a bit noisy.
The parrots most often seen singing opera on late night TV are Yellow
Napped Amazons. Yellow Napped
Amazons are, in my opinion, the most intelligent of the Amazon parrots.
They are also
the most willful and determined. They
are fascinating, complex creatures who learn to talk and sing very easily.
Yellow Napes are not for everyone. They
really need boundaries set for them; otherwise, they will take over your house.
While we do extensive socialization with them, in most instances we do
not train them well enough to run your house!
Yellow Napped
Amazons, like the other Amazon parrots with lots of yellow, can become more
easily overloaded (perceived as aggressive) during breeding season in the early
spring. Watching their behavior
closely is very important in dealing with these intelligent birds.
Luckily, Amazons are very emotionally honest, and it is easy to read
their behavior. Pinning eyes and
flared tail is a good sign to not pick them up with your hand unless you want to
take the chance of being nipped. There
may be times when living with a Yellow Napped Amazon that it becomes necessary
to pick up your bird with a stick to maintain a positive relationship.
If you are willing to be compassionate and respectful of their wild
natures, if you are willing to set firm boundaries that can help them manage
their behavior, Yellow Napped Amazons are flexible, entertaining companion
parrots. Beautiful coloration,
intelligent and outgoing personalities and the potential to talk and sing
exceptionally well make Yellow Napped Amazons wonderful lifetime companions.
How to deal
with Hormonal Biting.
When an Amazon
is Hormonal, it is as if he were having an out of body experience.
It is useless to punish him for biting during this time, as he has no
idea what he is doing. Hormonal
biting is not personal.
The best way
to deal with hormonal biting is to avoid it.
When you see your bird in full display and flashing his eyes, this is no
time to be asking for kisses. Leave
him alone until he cools down. You
do not want to turn ‘Hormonal biting’ into ‘Behavioral biting.’
Cage Size:
The bigger the
cage the better (as long as it is easy to clean and the bar spacing is on larger
than 1”).
The minimum
size is a cage large enough for the bird to flap its wings and stretch fully
without touching the cage bars. Parrots
confined to too small a cage are inclined to become rather sedentary and tend to
become over weight (not to mention unhappy).
A good size cage is 5’ tall X 3’ wide X 2’ deep (or
slightly smaller to make it easier to manage through doorways).
This size has enough room for a swing, 2 or 3 different types and sizes
of perches, several toys and food cups without being crowded.
Again, remember to make sure the cage is also easy to clean and the bar
spacing is no larger than 1”.
Toys:
Amazons have
very strong beaks and love to destroy toys.
When you look for toys, pine is great.
Parrots generally love all of the softer materials used in toys like
leather, knotted cotton, tissue rolls with NO glue, and sisal rope.
And of course pine! Some
harder toys can be a good choice as long as you realize these are not considered
chew toys (and a parrot should always have at least one chew toy to wear
down the beak and release aggression). Good
harder toys might have bells Remember, no jingle-type bells), make noise, or
move in interesting ways. As to
size, this depends entirely on your individual bird.
Your bird might love only small toys and be scared of large ones, or
he/she might love Macaw size toys as long as they are made of pine and have lots
of leather knots.
Longevity:
Amazons can
live 60 to 80 years but often they live to only 3 to 10 years.
Why is this?
Accidents and Bad Nutrition.
There are countless
stories of birds flying away. Please
clip your parrot’s wings even if he/she never goes outside.
The chance of a door or window being open at the wrong time is very
great. Think of it this way, if your
parrot lives 25 years (9,125days), there are 9,125 days that the door might be
opened at the wrong time. It takes
only a second for your bird to fly away forever.
Also remember, that a properly clipped parrot that flutters softly to the
ground inside only needs a slight puff of wind outside to sail away forever.
Other household accidents include, but are not limited to, death by
electrocution (birds love too chew on cords), toxic fumes (this includes TEFLON
overheated non-stick cookware), car exhaust, aerosols, cleaning fluids, smoking,
etc. Heavy metal poisoning (birds
love to investigate, so watch curtain weights, the paint on mirror backs,
jewellery, coins. Fishing weights etc.) and cats and dogs(remember, it takes
only one very small scratch from a dog or cat to kill a bird).
Improper cage maintenance can also spell untimely death for your
feathered friend. Accumulated foods
and fecal matter can produce, among other things, mold (and give a bird
incurable aspergillus’s), and attract rats, mice, or roaches (who can give a
bird a number of nasty things.)
The last major
cause of untimely death is Bad Nutrition. Birds
are very sensitive to salt. I read a
story in Bird Talk were a man shared his bag of potato chips with his
bird (a Macaw), the bird died from a salt overdose.
Birds are also very sensitive to fat.
They can quickly accumulate large fat deposits on their liver and heart
and eventually die. It is wonderful
to share food with our feathered friends but follow common sense.
Eat healthy foods low in fat and salt (and no avocado, onion, chocolate,
alcohol or caffeine.)
Nutrition:
A diet that
consists of pellets, fresh fruit and vegetables) especially greens) is the very
best start for your new feathered friend. Amazons
do benefit from extra vitamin A. Vitamin
A is a large component of feathers and increased amounts will improve feather
shine, quality and color. If your
bird is on a pelleted diet (and hopefully he/she is) the only way you should
increase vitamin A intake is through feeding carrots or sweet potatoes (do not
use vitamin/mineral powders, you can kill birds and people from an overdoes of
vitamins and minerals). You also
don’t want to feed your bird too much of any one fruit or vegetable.
Variety is good. Pellets are
a wonderful way to make sure that your bird is getting the basics.
The best pellets are the ones that your bird will eat.
Pellets should make up 50-60% of the parrots diet.
Amazons love
to eat. They happily consume huge
quantities of fruits and vegetables and very open to trying new things.
Some of the foods enjoyed are almonds, apples, beans, carrots, kale,
kiwi, mango, pasta, peas in a pod, pomegranate, rice, spaghetti, sprouted
legumes and sweet potatoes
About Us:
Our
goal is to raise baby parrots to the highest level of pet quality and tameness.
Therefore we hand feed and hand raise these babies from an early age to
allow us to produce tame, human re-active baby parrots. We provide a guarantee
for our babies that entitle the buyer to replace a bird or get a full refund
should a problem occur with in 2 weeks.
This is conditional in that the bird must have been diagnosed to have a
problem that is either genetically in nature or is deemed to have been caused by
us, by a Certified Avian Veterinarian or one that is considered by us to have
sufficient knowledge of avian species. Also they can NOT take blood from
the neck. And the bird must be
returned to me ALIVE.
(Also known as the Yellow Sided Amazon)
This
is our Pair.
Chaco
Blue-fronted Amazons are relatively large, stocky bright green amazons
with variable patches of blue, white and yellow that are extensive on the face
and large patches of yellow are on the corpus (shoulder).
Primary and secondary flight feathers are green with blue tips.
Tail feathers green with yellowish green tips. Red patches on outer tail
feathers.
Size:
Length is 14 to 15 inches.
Weight is 300-450 grams.
Males are generally larger and more colorful
than females and have larger heads and beaks.
Eyes of juveniles are brown while eyes of adults are orange-yellow.
Most juveniles have relatively little color compared to adults.
Life
span:
Chaco
Blue-fronted Amazons
can probably live 50-60 years or more. Little
is known about their life span in captivity.
Breeding age is approximately 3-5 years.
Personality:
Chaco
Blue-fronted
amazons are very popular. They are
well known for their talking ability. They are intelligent, inquisitive birds
but are sometimes shy. Mature birds,
especially males may become bonded to one person and aggressively protect that
person from other people including other family members.
They are relatively common in captivity but captive bred birds are not
frequently available. They are
active by nature and have a tendency toward obesity if closely confined.
Activities:
Chaco
Blue-fronted Amazons should always be
provided with toys, blocks of wood or branches that they can chew.
In order to ensure safety companion amazons should not be allowed
unsupervised freedom in the home as they often encounter toxins or dangerous
items. Young amazons should be
socialized to many people and exposed to a variety of situations such as new
cages, toys, handling by friends and other family members, wing and nail clips,
etc, to avoid fear of novel situations. They
need to have some space for exercise.
Dietary
Needs: Amazons should be fed pellets, as they are good
nutrition. Zupreem pellets are what
we feed. The diet should be
supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables daily to add variety and
psychological enrichment. Feed
approximately ¼ cup of pellets and ¼ cup fresh fruits and veggies daily.
Monitor food intake. Overfeeding
leads to pickiness, selective feeding and wasteful throwing of food.
Because of their tendency to obesity, Blue-fronted Amazons should be fed
little to no sunflower or safflower seeds or seeds should only be given as
treats or rewards. Vitamin
supplements are not needed for birds that are eating a pelleted diet.
Grooming:
Routine bathing or showering is vital to maintaining
good plumage and skin condition. Birds
can be misted and allowed to dry in a warm room or in the sun, or gently dried
with a blow drier. Care should be
taken not to clip the wing feathers excessively as amazons often fall and injure
themselves. Clip only the primary
flight feathers and only enough so the bird will glide to the floor.
Chaco
Blue-fronted Amazons
are heavy bodied and care must be taken not to cut too many feathers.
Excessive wing clipping can result in injuries from falling.
Housing:
Chaco
Blue-fronted
amazons are very active and should be provided the largest cage that space and
budget allows. Ideally the cage
should provide room for flight. Durable
cage construction is not as critical as it is for macaws and cockatoos.
Locks or escape proof latches may be necessary on cages.
Ideally the bird will have an outdoor cage as well to allow playtime in
the fresh-air and sunlight.
About
Us:
Our goal
is to raise baby parrots to the highest level of pet quality and tameness.
Therefore we hand feed and hand raise these babies from an early age to
allow us to produce tame, human re-active baby parrots. We provide a guarantee
for our babies that entitle the buyer to replace a bird or get a full refund
should a problem occur with in
2
weeks. This is conditional in
that the bird must have been diagnosed to have a problem that is either
genetically in nature or is deemed to have been caused by us, by a Certified
Avian Veterinarian or one that is considered by us to have sufficient knowledge
of avian species. Also they can NOT
take blood from the neck. And the
bird must be returned to me ALIVE.
JUST PARROTS (Niagara
Parrots)
Mark & Sara Rykers
parrots@niagara.com
(905) 382-5555
